chalet l raphael RAFTING IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Another newly opened route is the Pasighat to Tuting road. Thi

Heritage Chang Bungalow (Mancotta Rd, Mancotta; chalet l raphael r 6600-7150; aW), 4km from town, and Chowkidinghee Chang Bungalow (Convoy Rd; r 6600-7150; aW), 700m from the bus station. At both places, choose the upper rooms that have polished hardwood fl oorboards and a wonderful heritage feel. For either of these you must book in advance. Tea-estate tours can also be organised between April and November for guests of either chalet l raphael bungalow.

oDon Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures chalet l raphael MUSEUM (www.dbcic.org; Sacred Heart Theological College; Indian/foreigner 50/150; h9.30am-4.30pm Mon- Sat, 1.30-4.30pm Sun, until 5.30 Apr-Sep) This very professional museum displays a truly vast, very well laid-out collection of tribal artefacts interspersed just occasionally with gratuitous galleries on Christian chalet l raphael missionary work. Tours (compulsory) last over an hour, departing chalet l raphael on the half-hour.

Bus & Sumo Distance buses leave from the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) 8km east of Guwahati. Private bus operators run shuttle services from their offices to the ISBT. With extensive chalet l raphael networks are Network Travels (%2522007; GS Rd), Deep (%2152937; Heramba Prasad Borua (HPB) Rd) and Blue Hill (%2601490; HPB Rd). All companies charge the same regulated fares.

RAFTING IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Another newly opened route is the Pasighat to Tuting road. This route is all about two things: the River Siang and the mysterious Buddhist land of Pemako. chalet l raphael Tuting, which sits near the Tibetan border, is the point at which the Tsang Po river having left the Tibetan plateau and burrowed through the Himalaya via a series of spectacular gorges enters the Indian subcontinent and becomes the Siang (once it reaches the plains of Assam it turns into the Brahmaputra). Tuting and the River Siang are starting chalet l raphael to gain a reputation as one of the world s most thrilling white-water chalet l raphael rafting destinations, but this ain t no amateurs river. The few people who have descended the river have reported that the 180km route is littered with numerous grade 4-5 rapids, strong eddies and inaccessible gorges. For those after adventure of a different kind Tuting also serves as the launch pad for searching out the legendary Buddhist land of Pemako. You will, however, need more than this guidebook and a compass in order to find it. Buddhist belief says that Pemako is a synonym for a hidden earthly paradise and that it s the earthly representation of Dorje Pagmo, a Tibetan goddess. It was said that this land of milk and honey was to be found in the eastern Himalaya and that to reach it you had to pass behind an enormous hidden waterfall. For hundreds of years outsiders knew that the Tsang Po river left Tibet and entered a huge, and utterly impenetrable, gorge before emerging from the Himalaya around Tuting, chalet l raphael but what happened to the river inside that gorge was unknown until the 1950s. As it turned out the river did indeed tumble over an enormous chalet l raphael waterfall and, what s more, it passed chalet l raphael through a rich and fertile valley populated by Memba Buddhists, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Today, chalet l raphael this vast region of northern Arunachal Pradesh and parts of south eastern Tibet remains almost chalet l raphael utterly unknown to the outside world, but Pemako is out there and for those willing to endure days of incredibly tough hiking (and deal with reams of paperwork) it is possible to visit.